  History was repeating itself; he was sure of it. He had only left her alone for a night, hell, he had only left her alone for ten fucking minutes and now she was gone. It was all his fault too. Heâd let Anton leave before he arrived, thinking that nothing could happen in that time he wouldnât be able to stop, she was safe in a store. Heâd been a fucking moron. His miscalculation, his ego had resulted in Ashley being taken by god only knows who.
  Zelek had backtracked, had traced her scent as far as he could, heâd turned on the GPS in her phone, heâd tried summoning himself to her based on the necklace she wore that had traces of his blood in it. Her scent disappeared, which meant sheâd been shoved in a car, her phone had been traveling around on the subway for three fucking days and the necklace had been thrown in the trash outside some convenience store.
  The car was stolen, the plates matching a completely different car, the phone had been dropped by a woman who had said some handsome guy tell her theyâd go out for dinner if she did him this one favour. The stupid woman thought it was a prank. Heâd slipped up on one thing, though, where he dumped the necklace had multiple, hidden, cameras everywhere â having been installed after too many break ins.
  He had his face now and that was all he needed. Precious days had passed, though, in the time it took for him to get that information, even more time as he hacked into database after database to run his photo. His men were searching everywhere they could, practically tearing up his city in an effort to find her. In the end it was Romy who had figured it out, Zel had gone out of town two weeks ago and Ash had worried that she couldnât give him blood, so sheâd let Augustus take some of her blood.
  A spell with her blood would take him to her in a heartbeat, the only issue was that it would take him directly to her, in a hostage situation you never ran in head first when you had no clue if the victim was in danger. He didnât care about what would happen to him, heâd survive, but he didnât know if he could risk what could happen to her. The clock was ticking, he just had to weigh up the options. In the end he waited and cast a location spell with her blood, it took time they really didnât have but he was hoping sheâd hold out for him just a little while longer.
  Turned out his instincts had once again led him right, ten minutes after they had her location, he sent people in that area to check out the house. Two people were inside, their description of Ashleyâs scent let him know they were in the right place and so he waited and waited until she was alone before he cast his spell. It did as it should and dropped him within touching distance from her, except he wasnât sure that he should touch her when he did see her. The state sheâd been left in had him forcing back a growl, his fangs descending as he tried to control himself, he couldnât touch her if he was in a killing frame of mind. He would never forgive himself if he hurt her.
  As gently as he could he brushed hair off of her face before lifting her up, shrugging off his jacket to drape over her. âIâm here- Little Dove, Iâm here, now.â He checked her over, ensuring that no physical damage would be fatal when he first heard her sob and his heart felt like it had shattered into a million pieces.
  Moving around he cupped her cheeks, forcing her to look at him as he leaned closer to her and nodded his head. He didnât know if it would hurt her or not, but he had to do it, he pressed his lips against hers, kissing her hard and passionately like he normally did because he knew that even if she was close to it, his Ash wouldnât break. Despite the thought, though, he kept it brief, only giving her enough that she knew it was really him. âYeah, itâs really me, Dove. Iâm gonna take you home, okay?â
  She was going to have new scars, new pain, new fears to try and deal with and it was his fault. He shouldâve been there, shouldâve stopped it. His hands tightened on her arm for a brief moment, but he let her go before he accidentally hurt her. She didnât need his anger, she needed to be safe, in a familiar place where she could recover. He had failed to protect her, but he wouldnât fail to do this. Reaching into his pocket he took out her necklace, putting it on her again before he gathered her up in his arms and said a simple spell, one that teleported them to his library. His men would be waiting out for her captor to return because despite his need to hunt the fucker down himself Ash needed him, they they were under strict orders to incapacitate instead of kill, though, he was going to make their death slow and painful.
  Carrying Ash over to the couch that they normally sat on, he pulled a blanket over them both and held her as close to him as he could without suffocating her. His face buried in her neck as he tried to keep himself in check. She needed him. âYouâre safe now, Ash⌠No one is ever going to lay a hand on you, ever again. I fucking promise.â Augustus was already running a bath for her, for them if she wanted him with her.
@inkheartcd (why did we do this to ourselves)
